Chiba's Radiance, Beginning in Konoha

Moonlight streamed through a gap in the curtains and cast a silver line across the floor. He stared at it, but his mind kept returning to Orochimaru's gaze from earlier that day.

That searching gaze, as if it could see right through him.

"Orochimaru..." Liuguang sighed softly. "Right now, you're still an innocent genius pursuing knowledge and power. But what path will you take in the future?"

"And what path will I take?"

Questions without answers drifted away into the night. A ninja hound barked in the distance. Farther still, the Hokage Rock stood silent in the moonlight.

The night was still young.

The story of Konoha had only just begun.

And the story of Chiba Liuguang was slowly but surely beginning to unfold.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.